Social Marketing as a New Tool of Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of Literacy in Costa Rica

Abstract

The private sector has been increasingly called upon to participate in addressing societal problems in emerging markets normally confronted by governments and NGOs. Corporations have responded, in part, with the creation of corporate social responsibility programs for which marketing has become an important tool. In some cases corporations are launching social behavioral change campaigns to improve health and quality of life. Such campaigns are referred to

as “social marketing.” In this document the aspectos of a successful corporate social marketing program in Costa Rica are analyzed and evaluated. Literacy is the most basic human capacity building element and therefore economic and social development. While multinational corporations have proven to be powerful agents for economic and social change through the creation of new products and services, relatively few have grasped the magnitude and complexity of the challenge to reach universal literacy. This paper will define the concept of social marketing, analyze the elements of a successful social marketing program by a multinational corporation for the promotion of literacy, and review the method for evaluating this program. The authors suggest that corporations must lend their resources, financial and human, to inadequately resourced efforts of governments and NGOs to meet the ambitious goal of universal literacy which is the basis for human development. The authors provide an example of strategic alignment of social marketing programs with basic corporate competencies and the needs of the communities in which they operate for creating successful social initiatives.